ONE OF the country’s best-known restaurants, the Michelin-starred l’Ecrivain, run by celebrity chef Derry Clarke and his wife, Sallyanne, has continued to trade profitably through the recession.

Accounts lodged by Sudberry Trading Ltd confirm that the Dublin restaurant recorded a cash profit for the second successive year in 2011, and its owners, Derry and Sallyanne Clarke, confirmed yesterday that the 2012 performance will be similar to last year’s.

The couple established the restaurant 23 years ago and said yesterday they are satisfied with the performance of Sudberry Trading Ltd, which shows a cash profit of €78,309 after depreciation in the 12 months to the end of August last. The abridged accounts do not provide the firm’s revenue but the Clarkes said revenue took a 6 per cent dip last year.

The 2011 cash profit after depreciation followed the business recording a cash profit of €238,573 after depreciation in 2010.

The Clarkes said: “Turnover declined by approximately 6 per cent between 2010 and 2011. Everyone is working harder to meet customer expectations. We are doing a lot of special offers and deals which do bring in new clients but the margins are very much tighter than previously.”

On the current year, they said business in general is still difficult and it is hard to predict trends. “Our number of customers is up on 2011 but the average spend per customer is lower than in previous years.”

The accounts show accumulated losses totalling €666,601. However, the couple said non-cash depreciation costs were the reason behind the accumulated losses, with cumulative depreciation totalling €1.5m.